A collective of cartoonists, strip cartoonists, and graphic novelists united by a love of words and pictures and the fact that they all reside in the county of Sussex.

Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Folks,

' Creators of dark, sarcastic comic mag, Velocity, from the late 80s to the mid 90s, Gary and Warren Pleece have made a mark that can’t quite come out of the dish-cloth comics map of Britain. ' That's a self-penned quote from the two excellent guys who are our guests at our next Cartoon County meeting on Monday, 26th September, from 6 onward, upstairs at The Cricketers, Black Lion St, Brighton. They'll be talking for podcast about their new collection of past material,The Great Unwashed - blurb below - and showing some pages of it, plus stuff from Montague Terrace, and much more, and talking generally about their work from 7.30. Do not miss it!

The Great Unwashed by Gary and Warren Pleece, a new anthology coming out soon from Paul Gravett's Escape Books, collects some of the best early material from the Pleece Brothers' dark, sarcastic comic magazine, Velocity, through to the washed out water-coloured tales for magazines like Crisis and Revolver.

Re-discover or be introduced to noirish stories of failed comedians, self-indulgent rock stars, dysfunctional double acts and not forgetting an excessive dose of Pig Custard. A must!

Monday, 5 September 2011

I've finally finished Facebook The Comicbook 2: Achievements, and very nicely it has come out as well. The recurring theme of the book is chasing obscure achievements that don't matter while your life goes down the toilet. In addition it also touches on people 'liking' conversations for no reason, Bejewelled Blitz addiction, punctuation pedants, and the real reason Facebook keeps mucking about with our privacy settings. There's even a spanky set of "cut out and lose" fact cards about the differing types of Facebook freak.

It's even got a nice review from Geek Syndicate, which I shall take the liberty of reproducing here (ahem)...

"In a second slice of the pie, Stapleton returns with more of the same: a social critique of the social networking site and the way it works.

If you are a fan of part one you will be a fan of part two as Stapleton's razor sharp wit returns with more of the same. Stapleton uses the same tactic as he did before by showing how absurd some of the traits of Facebook are like in the real world. Stories such as gaming addiction and the grammar Nazi are brilliantly executed. Yet the standout story of the book has to be the man that likes everything. This story will definitely make you LOL. The stories are split up well, leaving you wanting more in the right places and happily surprised when they return for their next installment. Further the differing Facebook users is ingenious, focusing on Stapleton's biggest strength: his satire.

Facebook: The Comic Book 2 is the perfect companion to part one. It is a witty commentary on the social network that is worth taking a look, just like its predecessor."

Proper comic size, and 48 pages all in full colour, Facebook The Comicbook 2 will set you back £7.50 post paid. You can buy it directly from me either through Paypal (my account name is beat_bedsit@yahoo.co.uk), bank transfer (I can email my details), or a cheque/cash to Paul Stapleton, 105 Tivoli Crescent north, Brighton, Sussex, BN1 5NA - if you're buying from overseas add a couple of pounds extra for postage though.

Alternatively, if you live in Brighton you could wander down to any of these outlets and grab one: